Unlovable
by Unstoppable Cyborg
Summary: Adrien Argeste was truly unlovable, or at least that's what the voice in his head told him. Rated for slight language.


**I don't own _Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir_.**

* * *

"My Lady?" Chat Noir asked the girl sitting next to him on the rooftop. She glanced at him, her eyes warm and inviting.

"Yes, Chat?" she said sweetly. His heart attempted to leap into space, and he quickly pushed it down so he could speak.

"I love you. And before you roll your eyes about how I'm 'just being a flirt', let me tell you that those three words are the most honest words I've ever said in my life," he said to her, finally telling her the things he had meant to confess on Valentine's Day. "I love you with my whole heart and more. If it's possible to love you more than to love you with my entire being, then I don't love you enough. Please don't tell me that I can't possibly love you when I only know you on this side of the mask, because I would love the girl behind the mask as much as I love you. Well, the two of you are the same, but still. You're a good person, and that's all that matters. I don't care how long it takes for us to have a relationship masks-off, because you mean the world to me and more. You-"

"Chat," she cut in, realizing that she'd have to interrupt if she wanted to get a word in edgewise. "I'm sorry, but I don't feel the same way about you. There's someone else I like." She should have known that this was coming.

"I... I have to go," he said after a moment, standing up and running off. She didn't love him. Of course she didn't love him.

* * *

He made it into his room, took off his ring, and slumped in his desk chair.

"Of course she doesn't love you," said the annoying voice between his ears. "Why would _anyone_ love you? There's a reason why your father doesn't pay that much attention to you. There's a reason why your maman left you. You don't _deserve_ to be loved. Nino, Alya, Ladybug; no one really cares about you. They're just being polite and faking it. Everyone is somewhere between thinking you're an annoyance and hating you. You're stupid. You're worthless. Plagg was wrong to choose you; you're a piece of trash. You're crazy. You should just go die. It's not like anyone would care, anyways. Wait, I made a mistake. Your père will care. He'll care that you made a bad image for the business and he'll be disappointing in you. Well, more than he has been for your entire life." He bit his lip, trying to drown them out. It didn't work. "You're the worst Chat Noir ever. You're a-"

"Evil pest!" Plagg cried out, and at first Adrien thought that it was directed at him. Then he saw the akuma that the kwami was trying to attack.

"Plagg! Hold it off while I get the mason jar!" he yelled out, frantically jumping out of his chair. Yeah, he'd heard voices before, but why was Hawk Moth targeting him now?

"Put your ring on! The Miraculous will protect you!" the kwami yelled back as he sparred with the butterfly. They were about the same size, and despite appearing so fragile it was putting up a marvelous fight. Then again, Plagg _was_ a lazy glutton.

Thankfully, he had the sense to place the ring back on his finger prior to trapping the vile insect. It didn't have the chance to try and infect him, to turn him into a villain whose item was... a jar. Even a bubble wand or a pigeon-whistle was cooler than _that_.

"Of course it's cooler. Anything, _anyone_ , is cooler than you. They just like you because you can look nice in photos, but they don't see you. All they see is a mannequin for his father's clothes," the voice continued.

"Get. Out. Of. My. _Head!_ " Adrien growled, and Plagg stared at him sympathetically.

"Voices again?" he asked, knowing better than to ask for cheese. Once he had tried that, back in Pompei, and Faustus, or Nigrum Cattus had released the akuma. He had given up, and in doing so he had accepted the Hawk Moth of the time, Accipitrem Tinea. Things hadn't ended well.

"Yeah," the current Chat Noir said, looking away.

"Well, let's go take this to Ladybug and get rid of it." Adrien didn't say anything, and a heartbroken bitter silence hung for a few moments. "Look, unlike you, she can purify akumas. We need to take this to her, and the two of you need to talk things out." _She needs you more than you know._

* * *

Ladybug continued on her patrol, feeling both guilty and annoyed. She felt horrible for having to turn him down when he felt _even more_ for her than he showed. But on the other hand, they were heroes with a duty to protect the city. They couldn't let their feelings get in the way. And besides, didn't he realize that she wanted to keep their superhero and civilian lives separate?

She heard footsteps behind her and turned around. Chat Noir was running towards her, carrying something in his arms. She walked towards him, and when he deemed her close enough, he thrust out the object he was carrying.

"Back to keeping akumas in mason jars, kitty?" she asked, attempting and failing to make the mood light.

"Can you just get rid of this thing?" he replied, barely disguising the bitterness in his voice.

"Sure. Where did you find it?" _Is the civilian okay?_

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Chat," she said softly. "Did it hurt you?"

"I said that I don't want to talk about it. Besides, why do you care? You just told me that you don't care about me, and I understand that. I mean, it can get hard sometimes to see why _anyone_ in their right mind would care about me." He bit his lip, realizing that he had said too much. Now he was just sounding like a selfish idiot. He didn't _deserve_ love and affection.

As she wordlessly cleansed the akuma, he turned to leave. Then he felt arms wrap around him.

"Chat, I didn't finish when I rejected you."

"It's okay, I get it. You don't like me. We can go back to being a team and nothing more than that; I... I just need some time." His voice was hoarse, but he hoped she didn't notice.

"Chat, look at me," she commanded, and he turned around, still in her arms. She still had him wrapped around her little finger; this was he needed time.

"Yes, I don't love you romantically, but that doesn't mean I don't love you. I love you as a friend. In fact, if we ever get to the point where we're masks-off, don't tell the girl I've been friends with since Grande section, but you're my best friend. I'd gladly give my life for you if the need came and you would quit taking every. Single. Frickin. Hit for me. Heck, if it wasn't for your nonstop flirting, then I'd love you like you were the annoying twin brother I never had and never realized I had always wanted."

"So you do think I'm annoying," he said even as he hugged her back and nuzzled his head into her shoulder.

"Look, I'm an only child, but given what my friends have told me, all siblings are annoying." A thought came to her. It was crazy, but she just got a really unsettling feeling about this whole situation.

"Chat... the akuma," she said slowly, and he squeezed her more tightly, burying his head more deeply into her shoulder.

"Please don't hate me," he said, holding back tears.

"It came for you, didn't it?" As she began to stroke his head, he nodded against her shoulder, a choked sob barely escaping his throat.

"Please don't hate me," he repeated.

"Why wouldn't she hate you?" the voice butted in. "You've given her every reason to, and besides, you're, well, _you_."

"Chat?" Ladybug said, washing the voice away. It huffed irritably before disappearing. For now; it always came back. He had learned not to get his hopes up, because the voice would always return.

"S-sorry. I kinda zoned out there," he replied. _Stupid, so stupid_. Well, at least it was his own thoughts rather than a voice in his head. He could feel her roll her eyes, even though he couldn't see the gesture.

"Like I had said while you weren't listening, I could _never_ hate you." _When I'm not under the influence of an akuma like you were, anyway._


End file.
